THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406230534
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By RUTH FANTASIA, VIRGINIAN-PILOT/LEDGER-STAR STAFF
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: Long
That's from a 1993 survey by the National Potato Board. The survey also showed that 84 percent of women wish they didn't have to make dinner at least some of the time. ?? checking so often.
{REST} So this Father's Day, we salute five local dads who regularly do pull kitchen duty. And the parents who taught them how.
At 6 a.m., while Jaclynn Godek sleeps peacefully or readies herself for work, husband Michael is downstairs fixing breakfast. He's also keeping company with sons Jacob, 1, and Tucker, 2. The kitchen camaraderie Michael Godekchecking developed with his two young boys is something he learned from his mother.
``I'm the oldest of three boys and Mom raised us to be real independent,'' he says. ``Learning to cook was time well spent with Mom. We'd cook and we'd chat. And Jaclynn and I have developed the same relationship.''
Michael and Jaclynn, spend a lot of time cooking The couple often cook together in their Chesapeake home - especially around the holidays, when they prepare baskets of breads, jams, chow chows and pies for friends and relatives, Michael says.
Their sons are young, but not left out. ``We encourage Tucker to put his plate in the dishwasher when he's done,'' Michael Godek says.
``I don't want to raise a son with all those stereotypical attitudes. We both work, and we divide the housework evenly. If she cooks, I clean the kitchen.''
Jaclynn Godek's favorite memory is the day Michael called her at work and told her to bring a friend home for dinner because he had prepared too much food.
She came home to Curried Apple Soup, Eggplant and Sausage Casserole and Shrimp Etouffee. ``Yes, it was spectacular,'' she says.
\ WORLDLY TASTES\ In 27 years in the Navy, John Busch traveled the world. The Virginia Beach resident also acquired a taste for food, and a talent for its preparation and presentation, says wife Sheree.
``My father got me interested in being in the kitchen,'' John Busch says, ``and while I was on active duty it was a real diversion to take your mind off things.''
Now, he cooks most meals for the family, which includes 6-year-old Shafer Lee.
``She's a lot of help for her age,'' Busch says. ``But when we make moussaka, we have tons of pots and pans and the food processor, and it gets kind of messy. So we do that when Mom's not home.''
Pasta with cream sauces and baked ziti are among Shafer Lee's favorites. ``And she says I make the best grilled cheese sandwich in the world,'' Busch adds.
He also prepares more exotic fare, such as Roast Leg of Lamb Dijon With New Potatoes, and Lemon-Pepper Green Beans.
But, Sheree Busch warns: ``Don't send him to do the grocery shopping, because he will come home with 50 things that weren't on your shopping list, but he needs for his kitchen.''
\ ROTATING SCHEDULE\ As the second-oldest of 10 children, Larry Gee cooked the meals while his parents worked.
He remembers cooking Sunday dinners of fried chicken or roast beef as early as age 12.
These days, he and wife Darlene share the cooking in their Virginia Beach home, rotating the schedule every other day.
``Her Mother's Day gift was to give her a week off,'' Larry Gee says. ``She says I'm the better cook.''
In winter, Gee likes to cook soups. He also enjoys baking cakes.
But 4-year-old son Jamie prefers Dad's kid cuisine. ``He loves my french fries,'' Gee says.
\ ``FRUGAL'' FAN\ ``My mother was determined I wasn't going to become a helpless male,'' says Bill Bodin of Virginia Beach. ``She taught me laundry, cooking and sewing. The cooking stuck.''
Much to the joy of wife Brenda and their 2-year-old son, Alexander.
Bodin, who is minister at Grace Lutheran Church in Chesapeake, likes to cook spicy, ethnic foods and has found a kindred spirit in chef Jeff Smith. Smith, the host of television's ``The Frugal Gourmet,'' is a former minister.
``Ever since I first saw him on television, I've enjoyed his show,'' Bodin says. ``I even re-created the Christmas dinner out of one of his cookbooks.''
\ AN EARLY START\ Tim Rossman of Chesapeake learned to cook when he was just a tyke.
``I'd be watching my mother, and then we had this neighbor that taught me how to do cakes and pies and breads during the summers,'' Rossman says.
Nowadays, he makes most of his family's meals, even when he's going out of town on business.
``I'll make a lot of dishes over the weekend and have them all ready.''
Wife Judy appreciates his efforts. ``She loves it,'' he says. ``A lot of her friends are envious.''
Before the Rossmans were married 10 years ago, Judy knew he'd be the chief cook in their home.
``When I was in college, I lived with two other guys and I couldn't depend on them to cook,'' Tim Rossman says. ``And then, whether we were at her parents or my parents, I'd always be in the kitchen helping somebody.''
It's a habit Tim's passed on to their children, Chelsey, 7, and Stevin, 5. Both like to cook.
``In the mornings,'' Rossman says, ``they'll get up on the counter and help with breakfast.'' by CNB